Food addiction in an urban sample of college students (LB117)

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2014-04, Vol.28 (S1), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Dopler‐Nelson, Mindy, Bullock, Emily, Ackerson, Leland
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.lb117

The objectives of this investigation are to create a shortened version of a survey to assess food addiction and to determine the prevalence of food addiction in an urban population of college students. Food addiction has a web of physiological causes very similar to other addictions that trigger the reward pathway and therefore influence inter‐individual variability in response to an obesogenic environment. Methods: One question from each of the seven DSM‐IV‐TR substance dependence criteria were included in an online survey of interested college students at the beginning of the fall 2013 semester. Participants were from a convenience sample of students recruited by email invitation. Participants answered questions related to demographics and eating behavior to assess food addiction. Results: 1980 students completed the online survey. 92.5% of the students answered at least five food dependence questions and were included in the data analysis. 46.2% had at least one symptom of food dependence. 9.1% of students were identified as having higher food addiction scores (3 or more symptoms) and 1.5% had clinical impairment to be classified with the diagnosis of food addiction. Conclusions: These findings illustrate that nearly half of urban college students have symptoms of food addiction and approximately 10% meet the clinical diagnosis of food addiction. This may help to explain why certain individuals are predisposed to gain weight during their college years. No external support was used to conduct this study.